Name plate or the like and process for making same



April 29, 1924. 1,492,464

N. JACOBUS NAME PLATE OR THE LIKE AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME Filed March so, 1925 INVENTOR fl elaonll Jaooas B Y A TTORNE Y Patented Apr. 29, 1924.

NELSON L. JACOBUS, OF GARDEN CITY ESTATES, NEW YORK.

NAME PLATE OR THE LIKE AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME.-

- Application filed March 30, 1923. Serial No. 628,719.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON L. JAcoBUs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Garden City Estates, in the county of Nassau and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Name Plates or the like and Processes for Making Same, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates generally to a name plate or the like and the process of making it, for an article that is subject to the action of an acid. The specific article used as an illustration of the invention is an automobile battery containing sulphuric acid.

The main object and feature of the invention is to produce a name plate or the like having raised characters or design which will be resistant to the sulphuric acid of the battery so that it will not be eaten away in the process of use.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is illustrated in a preferred and concrete form in which a Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are plan views of a sheet of material showing some of the steps in producing the name plate of the invention.

Fig. 4; is a sectional view through the finished name plate.

As is well known automobile batteries contain sulphuric acid to which the plate must be resistant and as is equally well known the raised effect of name plates is conveniently obtained by an etching process and the plate must therefore be susceptible to the action of an etching acid other than sulphuric acid. Lead is resistant to s ulphuric acid but is susceptible to the action of nitric acid. Lead in sheet form, on account of its softness is extremely difficult to manipulate, but I have found that by using an alloy of lead such as antimonial lead suficient stability is imparted to the lead sheet to render it suitable for manipulation.

I take a sheet of antimonial lead, with a slight admixture of tin to relieve the extreme dullness of the material, such as sheet 1 and upon it I print or lithograph a solid design 2. It will be evident that this design may be lettering, pictures or arbitrary symbols. The design thus produced is powdered with asphaltum as indicated at 3 while the ink is wet and the sheet is subjected to heat so as to melt the asphaltum and to merge them with the ink and the Whole is baked thereby hardening the design t. The design thus obtained is resistant to nitric acid as well as to sulphuric acid, but the unprotected portion of the plate is susceptible to the action of nitric acid although resistant to sulphuric acid. The plate is now dipped slightly in nitric acid thereby reducing the thickness of the plate except at the protected parts 4., which latter consequently become raised. The back'of the plate may be covered with a protective acid resisting compound, indicated at 5, and the front face of the plate may be finished by varnishing, or lacquering.

I claim:

1. The process of producing a name plate for an article that is subject to the action of an acid which consists in applying, to a sheet of material having the characteristic of resisting the action of the acid to which the article is subject and of not resisting the action of an etching acid other than the firstmentioned acid, a design which will resist the action of both acids, and then subjecting the sheet to the action of said other etching acid, thereby producing a sheet carrying a raised design both the sheet and the design being resistant to the first-men- 35 tioned acid.

2. As a new article of manufacture an etched name plate for an article that is sub ject to the action of an acid composed of a material having the characteristic of re- 99 sisting the action of the acid to which the article is subject and of not resisting the action of an etching acid other than the firstmentioned acid, said plate having a raised design capable of resisting the action oi 95 both acids.

3. The process of producing a name plate for batteries which consists in applying, to a sheet of an alloy of lead, a design which will resist the action of the acid of the bat- 1 9.

tery and the action of an etching acid other ing a raised design capable of resisting the than that of the battery, and then subjectaction of the acid of the battery as Well as ing the sheet to the action of said other etchthe action of the acid used to etch the plate. 10 ing acid. Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of 5 4. As a new article of manufacture a name Kings and State of New York, this 24 day plate for batteries consisting of an etched of Man, 1923.

sheet of alloy of lead, said name plate hav- NELSON L. JACOBUS. 

